TOP TACTICS
Remember mullet are ‘educated’ fish. In harbours, they’ll follow the fishing boats in, knowing that when the decks are washed off there will be bits of food going into the sea. Small bits of mackerel or rag trotted down through the tied-up boats can be deadly at this time.
Don’t leave a float to fish indefinitely. Occasionally, lift the float up above the water a few inches and drop it back to give the bait some movement if there is little tide to push the float on. This often draws a bite when fish are otherwise disinterested.
Shot the float well down to minimise buoyancy and hit anything that dips the float below the surface. When surface fishing, add a little water to the bubble float for casting weight, or better still use a Bombarda. Try to position the float so that the bait floats down either with the wind or tide to where the fish are feeding. It’s preferable to casting at them or over them, which will often put them down and off their feeding.
Many anglers watch the float until it slides across the surface, indicating a bite, but you can miss a lot of fish this way. It’s better to watch the bread bait, see a mullet swirl and take it in, count to two, then lift into the fish. It takes practice.
Mullet can be very shy and skittish, even a flying bird’s shadow can put them down, but usually, within a few minutes, they’ll be back. Make sure you make a real effort to keep your profile low. Better still, crouch down out of sight and keep any essential movement slow and subtle. This especially applies to creek mullet.
Casting from a laid down position with the rod sideways is sometimes the only way to remain hidden from the eagle-eyed mullet.
Good polaroid sunglasses are essential for mullet fishing. You need to find the fish that won’t always show on the surface. Polaroids will help you spot deeper fish and locate the better fish when you’re positioning baits. ■